Jose Mourinho has defended Fernando Torres’ recent struggles, and conceded that the entire squad would change how they play with the former Liverpool frontman so as to make the best of his unique abilities in front of goal.

Torres has not had the best of stints at Chelsea, and a mega £50 million move from Liverpool did take a toll on the striker. The heavy price tag on his shoulders brought a lot of expectations at Stamford Bridge, and the supporters expected to see a minimum of 20 goals a season from the striker. However, the Spain international has not been able to break the shackles in front of goal. His career boomed at Atletico Madrid, where he gained the reputation of one of the most ruthless strikers in Europe. Then came Liverpool, who under the leadership of Rafa Benitez won the UEFA Champions League. The fee was nowhere comparable to that of the Chelsea deal, and Torres took the Barclays Premier League by storm. His knack of finding space and alertness in front of goal haunted opposition defenders, and was successful in helping beat arch rivals Manchester United on several occasions.

Mourinho was in charge of his last season at Chelsea during his first stint, when Torres was signed by the Merseyside outfit. The Portuguese boss is aware of the striker’s strengths, and with his man management skills, will try bringing the confidence back into his game. The former Real Madrid boss signed Andre Schurrle in attack earlier this summer, trying to initiate competition in the attack line. With the presence of up coming strikers like Victor Moses and Demba Ba, Torres’ position in the starting lineup will depend on his performances, and not history, which will initiate better results.

According to Yahoo! Eurosport, Mourinho believes in the 29-year old’s abilities, and is more than willing to change the way the squad plays around Torres. The manager accepted the fact that Torres’ performances have seen a radical slump, but is impressed by the striker’s hard working approach in training.

Mourinho said, “I don’t know if it’s confidence, I feel the guy is highly motivated, he works very hard.”

“I think some of the work we do with the team in terms of attack suits his qualities. We are here to support him.”

“Usually when he is clear, he scores that goal – but he has missed (recently). We know that this is Torres’ game. When we see Torres with his back to goal, surrounded by two or three opponents, we know that he is not going to produce a piece of magic.”

“We want the team not to learn how to play with him, but to improve how to play with him. He is working very hard in training, we are happy with him.”